David Miscavige (post 5)

The outspoken niece of David Miscavige, Jenna Hill Miscavige, the daughter of David’s older brother Ron, recently came out in support of Andrew Morton’s “Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography,” and slammed the star for “supporting a religion that tears apart families, both in the media and monetarily.” Since then, Jenna claims she’s been subjected to harassment.

David Miscavige at the Church of Scientology of Sacramento dedication ceremony

“His viciousness and his cruelty to staff was unlike anything that I had ever experienced in my life … He just loved to degrade the staff. He got a kick out of it. He thought it was funny. Anybody who didn’t think it was funny, like I didn’t, was very suspect.” – Stacy Young, former secretary to Miscavige, interviewed in — “Inside the Cult”. The Big Story 1995.

David Miscavige (post 4)

David Miscavige in his “Scientology War Room”

Multiple allegations have been made by former high-ranking executives of Scientology that Miscavige routinely humiliates and physically beats his staff, and holds many members of top strata of the organization in confinement in degrading conditions in a group of double-wide trailers on the Scientology “Gold Base” property in Hemet, known as “The Hole.” Mike Rinder, former director of the organization’s Office of Special Affairs who for years had been the official spokesperson for Scientology, attests that he was physically assaulted by Miscavige on about 50 occasions. 

David Miscavige (post 3)

An E-meter used for Auditing

According to the private investigator allegedly hired to spy on David Miscavige’s elderly father, the petite Scientologist even went so far as to hire fake friends for the suppressive 70-year-old. Via the New York Daily News, Miscavige was apparently motivated by worries that the old man might do something rash—like criticize Scientology—after he was kicked out of the church. Dwayne Powell, 42, told Wisconsin cops he also had orders to recruit fake friends for the church elder who left the secretive religion on bad terms, police documents obtained by the Daily News reveal. Powell told West Allis Police that his employers wanted the bogus buddies to secretly infiltrate the personal lives of Ronald Miscavige Sr. and his wife Becky to gain their trust and provide intelligence.

David Miscavige (post 2)

Church of Scientology building in LA

There have been a number of allegations made against David Miscavige. These include claims of forced separation of family members, coercive fundraising practices, harassment of journalists and church critics, and humiliation of church staff members, including physical assaults upon them by Miscavige. Miscavige denies the majority of these claims, often criticizing the credibilityof those who bring them.

News Magazine (50 ?’s with David Miscavige)

David Miscavige

David Miscavige is the leader of the Church of Scientology. His official title is Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center, a corporation that controls the trademarks and copyrights of Dianetics and Scientology. Miscavige was an assistant to church founder L. Ron Hubbard (a “Commodore’s messenger”) while a teenager. He rose to a leadership position by the early 1980s and was named Chairman of the Board of RTC in 1987.

Baskerville (post 5)

‘Typography’ in Baskerville

“Having been an early admirer of the beauty of letters, I became insensibly desirous of contributing to the perfection of them. I formed to myself ideas of greater accuracy than had yet appeared, and had endeavoured to produce a set of types according to what I conceived to be their true proportion.”

—John Baskerville, preface to Milton, 1758

Baskerville (post 4)

John Baskerville

John Baskerville had his own printing business, producing his first book in 1757. His most noted works include Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, Book of Common Prayer, and his Bible of 1763, considered to be his finest achievement. An admirer of Baskerville, Benjamin Franklin brought Baskerville’s work to the US popularizing it through its adoption as one of the standard typefaces employed in federal government publishing.

Baskerville (post 3)

Baskerville font sample

Baskerville’s typeface was the culmination of a larger series of experiments to improve legibility which also included paper making and ink manufacturing. The result was a typeface that reflected Baskerville’s ideals of perfection, where he chose simplicity and quiet refinement. His background as a writing master is evident in the distinctive swash tail on the uppercase Q and in the cursive serifs in the Baskerville Italic. After falling out of use with the onset of the modern typefaces, Baskerville was revived in 1917 by Bruce Rogers, for the Harvard University Press and released by Deberny & Piegnot.

Baskerville (post 2)

The letter ‘n’ in Caslon and Baskerville

Compared to the Caslon typeface, Baskerville has an increased contrast between thick and thin strokes, making the serifs sharper and more tapered, and the axis of rounded letters is shifted to a more vertical position. The curved strokes are more circular in shape, and the characters became more regular. These changes created a greater consistency in size and form.

Baskerville (post 1)

The alphabet in Baskerville

Baskerville is a transitional serif typeface designed in 1757 by John Baskerville (1706–1775) in Birmingham, England. Baskerville is classified as a transitional typeface, positioned between the old style typefaces of William Caslon, and the newer styles of Giambattista Bodoni & Firmin Didot. The Baskerville typeface is the result of John Baskerville’s intent to improve upon the types of William Caslon.